Desktop workstations in an office environment are usually furnished with electrical devices such as personal computers, telephone equipment, power supply units, etc. which require cable connections to A/C outlets and/or telephone jacks. A typical computer system can include the CPU tower, monitors, a mouse, a keyboard, speakers, and any number of other peripheral devices, each including wire or cable connection means. To accommodate this multitude of wires and cables associated with workstations, modern office furniture often includes an aperture or bore in the desktop which allows the wires and cables to be fed through so that they are relatively unobtrusive. The aperture or bore in the furniture usually has a grommet inserted therein for both practical and esthetic reasons. The grommet protects the furniture from being damaged by abrasive wear caused by wires and cables on the edges of the aperture, while inexpensively providing a pleasing and finished appearance.
The most basic prior art grommet simply provides an open aperture in the desktop. Clearly, a drawback of having such an open aperture is that small objects can easily fall through. Some prior art grommets include a movable cover portion which allows the aperture to be sealed if it is not in use. Examples of this type of arrangement are seen in Herrara et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,491, Asbaghi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,363 and Chong, U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,658. However, when the cover is open to receive wiring, a sizable opening can remain in the desktop because the wiring may not occupy the entire open area. It would therefore be desirable to provide a grommet having an opening which would conform to the dimensions of the wires inserted therethrough so that there is little open space.
Another drawback of some of the prior art designs including hinged cover portions is that the size of the wire-receiving opening is much smaller than the overall grommet, thus limiting the number of cables or wires which can be fed through. (This type of arrangement can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,688,491 and 4,730,363.) Another problem with having a relatively small wire-receiving opening is that the cables may terminate in large connector elements (e.g. A/C plugs or serial port connectors) which are too large to fit through the opening.
An important consideration in cable and wire organization at computer workstations is that cables from different electronic devices may electronically interfere with one another when in physical contact or very close proximity. There is therefore a need in the art to provide a wire management device, preferably a desktop grommet, which serves to segregate the individual wires or cables.
Napiorski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,916, disclose a wire management having an outer peripheral portion and a central portion having different patterns adapted to receive cables. The central portion has a first side which is pre-scored into a star-like pattern to provide a plurality of wedges having radially disposed edges, and a second side which is pre-scored to provide a plurality of circular cut-outs. If the star-like pattern were punctured or torn to accommodate cables, the wedge portions would serve to somewhat close the opening around the cables, however, these wedge portions would tend to become randomly splayed around the cables, resulting in an untidy appearance. Also, if multiple cables were used, the star design would tend to position all the cables together in the center, which could result in electrical interference between the electronic devices. If the circles were punched out to provide the alternative mode of use, it would provide the desired amount of separation between the cables, however it would not be possible to insert larger connector elements through the grommet. Another disadvantage of this design is that once the punch-out portions are removed in the desired pattern for one particular set of cables, the grommet cannot be used again for another cable arrangement requiring a different punch-out configuration.